Model comparison
Qwen2.5-Max vs Step 3.5 Flash
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 40.7 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 17 shared benchmarks.
Alibaba (Qwen)
StepFunSummary
- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Qwen2.5-Max scores higher in 1 category and Step 3.5 Flash in 7 categories; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 42.6 to 36.9.
- Step 3.5 Flash has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Qwen2.5-Max | Step 3.5 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 40.7 | 42.3 |
| Released | 2025-01-25 | 2026-01-29 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| Context window | — | 256K |
| Max output | — | 256K |
| Input $ / M tokens | — | $0.10 |
| Output $ / M tokens | — | $0.30 |
| Results tracked | 27 | 19 |
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Category by category
Coding Too close to call
Qwen2.5-Max: 41.8 (#117), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5-Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1359 | 1436 |
| LiveBench Coding | 64.4% | — |
Reasoning Qwen2.5-Max leads
Qwen2.5-Max: 25.6 (#147), Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5-Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1360 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
| LiveBench Reasoning | 51.4% | — |
| LiveBench Data Analysis | 67.9% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 132.53 | — |
| LiveBench | 62.3% | — |
Math Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen2.5-Max: 36.9 (#162), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5-Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1369 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| LiveBench Math | 58.4% | — |
Knowledge Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen2.5-Max: 35.3 (#186), Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5-Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1337 | 1421 |
| Confabulations | 21.8% | — |
Multilingual Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen2.5-Max: 48.1 (#146), Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5-Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1352 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1382 | 1447 |
| LMArena French | 1396 | 1421 |
| LMArena German | 1350 | 1405 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1300 | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | 1304 | 1352 |
| LMArena Russian | 1353 | 1385 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1377 | 1419 |
Instruction Following Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen2.5-Max: 71.3 (#152), Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5-Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1335 | 1385 |
| LiveBench Instruction Following | 75.3% | — |
Long Context Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen2.5-Max: 41.4 (#142), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5-Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1358 | 1402 |
Writing & Preference Step 3.5 Flash leads
Qwen2.5-Max: 55.4 (#146), Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)
| Benchmark | Qwen2.5-Max | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1367 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1339 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1364 | 1405 |
| Short-Story Creative Writing | 72.9% | — |
| LiveBench Language | 56.3% | — |
Frequently asked questions
Is Qwen2.5-Max better than Step 3.5 Flash?
Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 40.7 on the Noometry Index.
Is Qwen2.5-Max or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?
They score almost the same on coding (41.8 vs 42.4); test both on your own repository before choosing.
How many benchmarks do Qwen2.5-Max and Step 3.5 Flash share?
17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Qwen2.5-Max has 27 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.